Rain gauge



May 17, 1960 a. w. BENBow RAIN GAUGE Filed April 28. 1958 'F'll25 E ATTORNEYS United States Patent 2,936,616 Y RAIN GAUGEV Bui-tis W. Benbow, Garber-ville, Calif.

Application April 28, 1958, Serial No. 731,273 6 claims. (Cl. 'I3-171) This invention relates generally to devices for indicating the amount of rain which falls over a given time.

In general it is an object of the invention to provide a novel device of the above character which is relatively compact, but which will provide reasonably accurate rainfall readings over substantial time periods. A

Another object of the invention is to provide a relatively simple device of the above character which will provide both cumulative and direct column readings, and which therefore will register a relatively large amount of rainfall, with a construction that is relatively compact.

Another object ofthe invention is to provide a gauge of the above character which is relatively simple in construction and which can be manufactured without undue cost.

Additional objects and features of the invention will appear from the following description in which the preferred embodiment has been set forth in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

Referring to the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view in section illustrating a gauge incorporating the present invention.

Figure 2 is a cross sectional detail taken along the line 2 2 of Figure l.

Figure 3 is a cross sectional detail taken along the line 3-3 of Figure l.

The embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawing consists of a tubular body together with a rain collecting pan 11 and a lower collecting chamber 12. It is convenient to make all of these parts of a suitable transparent plastic material. The interior of the pan 11 presents a predetermined horizontal area into which rain falls, and its bottom wall 13 is provided with a duct 14 to deliver the water into the'body 10. The tubular body 1t) is uniform in cross section, and is provided with siphon means which serves to discharge water after a column of predetermined height has accumulated. The siphon means in this instance consists of the inner tubes 16 and 17. The upper ends of these tubes are connected by the bent tube portion 18, which may be of resilient material.

The lower end of the tubular body 10 seats upon the cover plate 19, for the collecting chamber 12. A recess 21 in the plate 19, provides communication between thc interior of the body 10 and the lower end of the tube 16. The cover plate also has a duct or passage 22 which communicates with the lower end of tube 17. With such a siphon arrangement, when the water level in the body 10 rises above the tubular portion 18, siphoning commences whereby water is drawn through the recess 21, and delivered by tube 17 through the passage 22. When all of the water within the body 10 has been discharged, the siphon suction is broken, and therefore discharge of water ceases until the body has been relled.

Means is provided for delivering to the chamber 12 a fraction of the water discharged through the passage 22. For this purpose I provide a duct 23 which communi- 2,936,616 Patented May 17, n11960 Indicatingv means is provided in the chamber 12 toV indicate the level of accumulated water. Thus I provide a tloat 24, made of suitable plastic or other material,

and which has "a central slot 25 to accommodate 'the spirally twisted strip 26. The upper end of this strip is attached to the chamber cover 19, and the lower end to the base 27 of the chamber 12. `For the total travel of the float 24, the ribbon can be twisted through an angle of 360 whereby the lioat is caused to rotate one revolution between its operating limits. The base 27 is shown provided with a Adrain duct 28 which is normally sealed by the closure 29. This permits accumulated water within the chamber 12 to be removed to s tart `a new gauging period. o

A suitable graduated scale 31 extends alongside the tubular body 10 to facilitate reading the height of water in terms of inches of rainfall. Also it is desirable to provide an adjustable pointer 32, which can be moved to the water level at the time a reading is taken, to thereby indicate subsequent changes.

To facilitate reading the water level in the chamber 12, in terms of accumulated inches of rainfall, the oat 24 can be provided with indicia 33, together with suitable numbers which can be read with reference to a marker line 34 or other reference means carried -by the side wall of the chamber.

Operation of my device is as follows: In a typical instance the parts are proportioned whereby the scale 31 iS graduated to read in tenths of inches of rainfall, say up to l inch. The ducts 22 and 23 may be proportioned whereby for each discharge operation, one-tenth of the discharged water is delivered into the collecting chamber 12. Graduations on the float 24 can be such that the angular distance between the main markers of the scale may correspond to l inch of rain. Assuming now that the device is properly located to receive rainfall, rain collected in the pan 11 flows downwardly into the tubular body 10 and remains in this tube until the level reaches the top of the Siphon (i.e. the top level of the tube portion 18). From time to time the accumulated amount of rainfall can be read in terms of tenths of inches on the scale 31. At the time of each reading the pointer 32 can be set to the water level, whereby at the time of the next reading the change in water level can .be noted. When the water level reaches the top of the siphon means, all of the water is discharged through the passage 22, with a predetermined fractional portion, say one-tenth of the water, passing through the duct 23 into the collecting chamber 12. The amount of accumulated water is indicated by the position of the float 24, and as will be apparent from the foregoing, may be any fractional part of the total reading at the time water is discharged from body 10.

It will be evident from the foregoing that my device may be left in operation for a considerable period of Iclairn:

1. In a rain gauge, a tubular body adapted to receive a column of water, a rain collecting pan communicating with the body to deliver rain water thereto, siphon means serving to discharge the water from the body when the water column accumulated in the body reaches a predetermined level, a collecting chamber disposed below the body, gauging means for indicating the height of water in the collecting chamber, and means for diverting a predetermined fraction of the water discharged by said Siphon means into said collecting chamber.

. 2. A rain gauge as in claim 1 together with means for indicating the height of the water column in said body.

3. A gauge as in claim 1 wherein said gauging means comprises a float, and means for rotating the float as it is elevated by water within the chamber.

4. In a rain gauge, a vertically disposed tubular body adapted to receive a column of water, a rain collecting pan mounted upon top of said body, said pan being in communication with said body whereby rain collected by the pan is delivered to the body, siphon means disposed within the body serving to discharge water from the body when the Water column accumulating in the same reaches a predetermined level, a collecting chamber disposed below the body and serving to mount the body and the pan, means for indicating the height of water discharged through said passage into said collecting chamber.

6. A gauge as in claim 4 together with means providingl graduations for indicating the height of water in said body, and additional means providing graduations for indicating the height of water in the collecting chamber.

A References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,735,298 Dispenza Feb. 21, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES Patrick: Iupax Continuous Water Sampler and Inspection Device-An Apparatus for inspecting and Sampling Liquids; The Chemist Analyst, vol. 27, No. 3, October 1938, page 70.

Great Britain Jan. 22, 1920. 

